Sexual Habits of the Adélie Penguin
June 9, 2012 4:55 PM   Subscribe

"Blizzards and freezing cold were one thing. Penguin perversion was another. Worse was to come, however. Levick spent the Antarctic summer of 1911-12 observing the colony of Adélies at Cape Adare, making him the only scientist to this day to have studied an entire breeding cycle there. " Penguin sex habits study rediscovered at Museum.

Are you an Adelie penguin and having marriage problems? Read on!
posted by the man of twists and turns (21 comments total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 


It's beautiful! And natural! And I for one fully support penguin lust!
posted by Countess Elena at 5:05 PM on June 9, 2012 [13 favorites]




The comments section at the Guardian, unlike the rest of the internet, is absolutely worth reading and will provide a number of clever lulzy moments. "Happy Feet will never be the same" was one I liked.
posted by jokeefe at 5:25 PM on June 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


I wasn't going to use this penguin-centric post as an excuse to link yet again the the guardian's report on homosexual necrophiliac duck rape, but then you had the steward lee bridge right there waiting.

But back to the penguins --- a) Levick is an amazing bastard, isn't he? "So, George, now that you're back in England, what are you plans after surviving a year in the antarctic on nothing but rancid blubber?" "Well, Cyrill, as matter of fact I was thinking of a little jaunt to Gallipoli, as a matter of fact, do a little Waltzing Matilda, doncher' know." I'd bet a thousand bucks he had an obit in the Telegraph and would give nearly that much to read it...

b) are these penguins blind or what? For serious. I guess what with the annual temperatures down there it the body would be in fairly good nick for some time and not much colder than anything else around, but they really think she's winking at 'em? How are they not noticing that it doesn't move? Strange.
posted by Diablevert at 5:42 PM on June 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Wow, Levick was a pretty interesting man.

"Surgeon Commander George Murray Levick was seconded to Captain Scott's last, doomed expedition in 1910 at Scott's request, having served under him on HMS Essex two years earlier. Levick was an expert in physical training, a skill which was to stand him in good stead in Antarctica. He was a talented man, one of the few professionals in the party, depicted as a modest, hard worker, even-tempered and good-humoured. "He cheerfully accepts any amount of chaff," noted Scott in his diary. His particular distinction was as a photographer, keeping an extensive picture record of the expedition's activities."

"Budleigh Salterton's Fairlynch Museum is appealing for help in putting together an exhibition in 2011 to mark the centenary of the British Antarctic Expedition led by Captain Robert Scott. A senior member of the expedition was Surgeon Commander George Murray Levick RN, who lived in Budleigh. His role as the expedition's doctor will be highlighted in the Fairlynch exhibition, but Levick is also celebrated as the founder in 1932 of the British Schools' Exploring Society."

"Under the direction of the world-famous orthopaedic surgeon Sir Robert Jones (1857-1953) life for the children of the Chailey Heritage School, as it is known today, was characterised by a rather spartan existence. As chairman and founder of the Heritage's medical board Sir Robert believed that fresh air and an outdoor life were essential to the well-being of the children. Not surprisingly, with his Antarctic experience and his military background, Murray Levick shared such a view. He became the School's London-based Medical Director in 1923, a post which he held until 1950."
posted by the man of twists and turns at 5:58 PM on June 9, 2012


Countess Elena wins Most Apt Opus Quote Ever.
posted by emjaybee at 6:08 PM on June 9, 2012


An article with the words "hooligan" and "shenanigans". Oh my.


(Since reading this, I am walking around with the refrain "Hooligans, shenanigans and depravity, oh my" in my head. It finally knocked the "Call Me, Maby" earworm out of there!)

posted by peagood at 7:04 PM on June 9, 2012 [2 favorites]


are these penguins blind or what?

Extreme cold is preservative, feathers are insulative, and birds have no external genitalia, so for a penguin rubbing up against Ms. Block O Ice might be closer to the real penguin thing than human males using the ole right hand.
posted by localroger at 7:05 PM on June 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Or, on second thought, Natural Penguin RealDolls.
posted by localroger at 7:06 PM on June 9, 2012 [1 favorite]


Well, if you need a funky porn soundtrack to accompany the article: I've heard somewhere that there are gay penguins.
posted by loquacious at 7:46 PM on June 9, 2012


They hang out in formal tuxedos, all the time. And this guy was surprised they were a bunch of fops?
posted by Goofyy at 12:10 AM on June 10, 2012 [1 favorite]


I'll never look at penguins in the same way any more.
posted by vac2003 at 12:28 AM on June 10, 2012


are these penguins blind or what? For serious. I guess what with the annual temperatures down there it the body would be in fairly good nick for some time and not much colder than anything else around, but they really think she's winking at 'em? How are they not noticing that it doesn't move? Strange.

Real Dolls, Fleshlights and vibrators don't exactly look people either. It's not disturbing because animals are so weird. It's disturbing because animals are so human.
posted by srboisvert at 1:22 AM on June 10, 2012 [1 favorite]


What surprises me is that the Guardian seriously appears to believe that the "sexual depravity" of penguins would have shocked an Edwardian gentleman.
posted by Skeptic at 1:47 AM on June 10, 2012 [1 favorite]


God dammit I was just in London a week ago and I went to this museum and everything why couldn't they have announced this a week earlier i would have totally dug this god-dammit
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:34 AM on June 10, 2012


To be fair, Skeptic, the article only said it shocked on particular Edwardian gentleman. Given his penchant for wandering off to icy climes, it's reasonable to assume that Levick was decidedly on the less-syberitic end of that gentleman's business.
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:17 AM on June 10, 2012


Came for the Penguin Lust quote. Left satisfied.

Also: "Oh, the sexual life of a penguin/is stranger than anyone thinks..."
posted by tspae at 7:33 AM on June 10, 2012


Makes Feathers McGraw look like quite a decent egg, relatively speaking.
posted by Decani at 10:25 AM on June 10, 2012 [1 favorite]


Galapagos, giving, and game.
posted by BrashTech at 10:33 AM on June 10, 2012


As a friend of mine commented "50 shades of black and white".
posted by aychedee at 12:19 PM on June 12, 2012


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